Chronological
1 ¶The song of songs, which is of Solomon.
2 ¶ Oh! if he would kiss me with the kisses of his mouth! for thy love is better than wine.
3 Because of the savour of thy good ointments (ointment poured forth is thy name), therefore have the virgins loved thee.
4 Draw me after thee, we will run. The king has brought me into his chambers; we will be glad and rejoice in thee; we will remember thy love more than the wine; the upright love thee.
5 I am dark, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, more desirable as the booths of Kedar, as the tents of Solomon.
6 Do not look upon me because I am dark because the sun has looked upon me; my mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but I have not kept my own vineyard.
7 ¶ Tell me, O thou whom my soul loves, where thou dost feed, where thou dost make thy flock to rest at noon; for why did I have to be as a wanderer after the flocks of thy companions?
8 If thou know not, O thou fairest among women, go forth, following the footprints of the flock and feed thy little female goats beside the booths of the shepherds.
9 I have compared thee, O my love, to a mare of the chariots of Pharaoh.
10 Thy cheeks are beautiful between the earrings, thy neck between the necklaces.
11 We will make thee earrings of gold with studs of silver.
12 ¶ While the king was on his couch, my spikenard gave forth its fragrance.
13 A bundle of myrrh is my wellbeloved unto me that rests between my breasts.
14 My beloved is unto me as a cluster of camphire {Heb. ransom} in the vineyards of Engedi.
15 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes.
16 Behold, thou art fair, O my beloved, and pleasant; also our bed has flowers.
17 The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir.
2 ¶ I am the lily of the field {Heb. Sharon} and the rose of the valleys.
2 As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the virgins.
3 ¶ As the apple tree among the trees of the wild, so is my beloved among the sons. I desired to sit under his shadow, and his fruit was sweet to my taste.
4 He brought me to the wine chamber and placed his banner of love over me.
5 Sustain me with flagons of wine, strengthen me with apples; for I am sick with love.
6 His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
7 I charge you, O ye virgins of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the field that ye not awake nor stir up love, until he pleases.
8 ¶ The voice of my beloved! behold, he comes leaping over the mountains, skipping over the hills.
9 My beloved is like a roe or a young hart; behold, he stands behind our wall; he looks through the windows, blossoming through the lattice.
10 My beloved spoke and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.
11 For, behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone;
12 the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the song is come, and the voice of the turtle dove has been heard in our land;
13 the fig tree has put forth her green figs, and the vines in blossom have given forth their fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.
14 ¶ O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is beautiful.
15 Hunt the foxes for us, the little foxes, that spoil the vines; for our vines are in blossom.
16 My beloved is mine, and I am his; he feeds among the lilies.
17 Until the day breaks and the shadows flee away, return, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether.
3 ¶ By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
2 I will rise now and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
3 The watchmen that go about the city found me, to whom I said, Have ye seen him whom my soul loves?
4 It was but a little that I passed from them that I found him whom my soul loves: I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house and into the chamber of her that brought me into the light.
5 I charge you, O ye virgins of Jerusalem, by the roes and by the hinds of the field, that ye not awake nor stir up love, until he pleases.
6 ¶ Who is she that rises out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense and with all the aromatic powders?
7 ¶ Behold it is the bed of Solomon; sixty valiant men are about it of the valiant of Israel.
8 They all hold swords, being expert in war; each one has his sword upon his thigh because of the fears of the night.
9 King Solomon made himself a palanquin of the wood of Lebanon.
10 He made its pillars of silver, the bottom of it of gold, the covering of it of purple, its interior being paved with love, for the virgins of Jerusalem.
11 Go forth, O ye virgins of Zion, and behold King Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart.
4 ¶ Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves’ eyes within thy locks; thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Mount Gilead.
2 Thy teeth are like a flock of sheep that are even shorn, which came up from the washing; of which every one bear twins, and none is barren among them.
3 Thy lips are like a thread of scarlet, and thy speech is lovely; thy temples are like a piece of a pomegranate within thy locks.
4 Thy neck is like the tower of David built for teaching, upon which there hang a thousand bucklers, all shields of mighty men.
5 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which are fed among the lilies.
6 Until the day breaks, and the shadows flee away, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.
7 Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.
8 ¶ With me from Lebanon, my spouse, thou shalt come with me from Lebanon; thou shalt look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions’ dens, from the mountains of the leopards.
9 Thou hast taken hold of my heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast imprisoned my heart with one of thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck.
10 How fair is thy love, my sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell of thine ointments than all spices!
11 Thy lips, O my spouse, drip as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under thy tongue, and the smell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon.
12 A closed garden is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed.
13 Thy newly budded plants are a paradise of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, {Heb. ransom} with spikenard,
14 spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:
15 ¶ A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, that flow from Lebanon.
16 Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden that the aroma of its spices may flow out. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his sweet fruits.
5 ¶ I came into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh and my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb and my honey; I have drunk my wine and my milk: eat, O friends; drink, beloved, drink abundantly.
2 ¶ I sleep, but my heart watches for the voice of my beloved that knocks at the door, Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my perfect one: for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night.
3 I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?
4 My beloved put in his hand by the hole of the door, and my bowels were moved for him.
5 I rose up to open to my beloved, and my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with sweet smelling myrrh, upon the handles of the lock.
6 I opened to my beloved, but my beloved had withdrawn himself and was gone; my soul went after his speech; I sought him, but I could not find him; I called him, but he gave me no answer.
7 The watchmen that went about the city found me, they smote me, they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my outer cloak from me.
8 I charge you, O virgins of Jerusalem, if ye should find my beloved that ye cause him to know how sick I am with love.
9 ¶ What is thy beloved more than another beloved, O thou fairest among women? What is thy beloved more than another beloved that thou dost so charge us?
10 My beloved is white and ruddy; the standard-bearer among the ten thousands.
11 His head is as the most fine gold, his locks are bushy and black as a raven.
12 His eyes are as doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, as doves that are next to abundance.
13 His cheeks are as a bed of aromatic spices, as fragrant flowers; his lips like lilies, dripping sweet smelling myrrh that transcends.
14 His hands are as gold rings set with beryls; his belly is as bright ivory overlaid with sapphires.
15 His legs are as pillars of marble, set upon sockets of fine gold; his countenance is as Lebanon, chosen as the cedars.
16 His mouth is most sweet; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, and this is my friend, O virgins of Jerusalem.
6 ¶ Where has thy beloved gone, O thou fairest among women? where didst thy beloved separate himself? that we may seek him with thee.
2 My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather the lilies.
3 I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine; he feeds among the lilies.
4 ¶ Thou art beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, as desirable as Jerusalem, imposing as the standard-bearer of the army.
5 Turn away thine eyes from me, for they have overcome me; thy hair is as a flock of goats that appear from Gilead.
6 Thy teeth are as a flock of sheep which go up from the washing, of which every one bears twins, and there is not one barren among them.
7 As slices of pomegranate are thy temples within thy locks.
8 There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and virgins without number.
9 My dove is but one, my perfect one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that brought her into the light. The virgins saw her and called her blessed; yea, the queens and the concubines and they praised her.
10 Who is she that shows herself forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and imposing as the standard-bearer of the army?
11 ¶ I went down into the garden of nuts to see the fruits of the valley, and to see whether the vines flourished, and the pomegranates budded.
12 Or ever I was aware, my soul made me return like the chariots of Amminadib.
13 Return, return, O Shulamite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. What will ye see in the Shulamite? She shall be as a multitude of tabernacles.
7 ¶ How beautiful are thy feet in thy shoes, O prince’s daughter! the joints of thy thighs are like jewels, the work of the hands of an excellent workman.
2 Thy navel is like a round goblet, which does not lack liquor; thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies.
3 Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.
4 Thy neck is as a tower of ivory; thine eyes like the fishpools in Heshbon by the gate of Bathrabbim; thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon which looks toward Damascus.
5 Thine head upon thee is like scarlet, and the hair of thine head like the purple of the king hung in the galleries.
6 How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
7 This, thy stature is like unto the palm tree, and thy breasts to the clusters.
8 I said, I will climb up the palm tree, I will take hold of the clusters thereof; now also thy breasts shall be as clusters of the vine and the smell of thy nose like apples;
9 and thy palate like the best wine that goes into my beloved sweetly and causes the lips of those that are asleep to speak.
10 ¶ I am my beloved’s, and with me he has his contentment.
11 Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field; let us lodge in the villages.
12 Let us get up early to the vineyards; let us see if the vines flourish, whether the tender flowers appear, if the pomegranates bud forth; there I will give thee my loves.
13 The mandrakes have given their fragrance, and at our gates are all manner of sweet fruits, new and old, which I have laid up for thee, O my beloved.
8 ¶ O that thou wert as my brother, that sucked the breasts of my mother! when I should find thee without, I would kiss thee; and I should not be despised.
2 I would lead thee and bring thee into my mother’s house, that thou would instruct me; I would cause thee to drink of spiced wine of the juice of my pomegranate.
3 His left hand should be under my head, and his right hand should embrace me.
4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye not awake nor stir up love until he pleases.
5 ¶ Who is she that comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I woke thee up under the apple tree; there thy mother had birth pains; there she had pains that brought thee into the light.
6 Set me as a seal upon thine heart as a sign upon thine arm; for love is strong as death; jealousy is hard as Sheol; the coals thereof are coals of fire, which have a most vehement flame.
7 The many waters cannot quench love, neither can the rivers drown it; if a man would give all the substance of his house for this love, it would certainly be despised.
8 ¶ We have a little sister, and she still has no breasts; what shall we do for our sister in the day when she shall be spoken for?
9 If she is a wall, we will build upon her a palace of silver; and if she is a door, we will inclose her with boards of cedar.
10 I am a wall, and my breasts like towers since I was in his eyes as the one that found peace.
11 Solomon had a vineyard at Baalhamon; he let out the vineyard unto keepers; for its fruit each one was to bring a thousand pieces of silver.
12 My vineyard, which is mine, is before me; the thousand pieces shall be thine, O Solomon, and two hundred for those that keep the fruit.
13 ¶ Thou, she that dwellest in the gardens, the companions hearken to thy voice; cause me to hear it.
14 Run, my beloved, and be thou like to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of spices.
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